A little history behind the Marfa Hated on Yelp series...
In 2018, when my gallery was located on the main stretch of Highland Avenue, I started keeping a notebook filled with things I overheard visitors complaining about. It didn't take long before that habit sent me down the rabbit hole of reading Yelp reviews, and I started writing down the funniest ones I could find.
For years, I had the idea of creating a wall in my gallery dedicated to these complaints. Then one day I stumbled across a review that mentioned something I had actually made.
At the time, I sold canvas bags that read, "Welcome to Marfa, We're Not Open!" Apparently the person who left the review didn't find them nearly as amusing as I did. In fact, they were so annoyed by them that they mentioned them in their Yelp review. Even better, they thought the bags were shirts.
I was thrilled.
The fact that someone took the time to complain about my bags in a public review felt like free advertising, so I immediately started using that review to promote them.
Not long after, the Marfa Hated on Yelp wall finally became a reality. What started as a collection of funny complaints hanging in my gallery eventually evolved into something much bigger, with Yelp reviews finding their way onto my photographs and becoming one of my most popular series.
You can see more from the series HERE
